


Tragedy Took The Skald But Our Love Brought Her Back

by Lunarium



Category: Stand Still Stay Silent
Genre: Character Death Fix, Eucatastrophe, Family Feels, Finnish Mythology - Freeform, Fix-It, Magic, Magic-Users, Magical Pregnancy, Multi, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Polygamy, Rescue Missions, Resurrection by magic, Sedoretu, Underworld
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-23 14:49:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11991993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/pseuds/Lunarium
Summary: The Seiðkona, the Seiðkarl, the Noita, the Kade: a marriage will cure Tuuri Hotakainen and bring her back from the lands of Tuonela.





	Tragedy Took The Skald But Our Love Brought Her Back

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [Sedoretu_Fic_Fest](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Sedoretu_Fic_Fest) collection. 



> **Prompt:**  
>  The Seiðkona, the Seiðkarl, the Noita, the Kade: a marriage will cure Tuuri Hotakainen.
> 
>  
> 
> Many thanks to Laufey for all the insight into Finnish and Norse myths concerning magic and resurrection! :D I used a bit here and there and took some liberties with them for this story. It was a lot of fun to do, especially combining them with the Sedoretu trope. 
> 
> This story branches out at the end of Chapter 15, so it may not necessarily follow anything that happened in Chapter 16.

Grass crunched under the feet of the tall woman as she stepped off the gangway, pulling the other woman with her. Fresh scent greeted her, much welcome after sailing at sea for so long. Though no stranger to travels by sea, it was the stretch of the journey to this tiny remote outpost of Denmark that made it unbearably long. It had been, to date, the farthest she had ever travelled from home by ship. 

Now she stood, adjusting to solid ground while still feeling the shadows of the ocean waves below her feet, rocking against the dock she had dismounted. Her black hair was cut to her shoulders, exposed with no hat unlike the caps worn by the ship’s captain and the crew. A shawl covered her shoulders. Her fingers ached over having to grip metal for the entire duration of their arrival.

 _A poor idea for a vacation_ , said a voice in the back of her head, and she had to smirk at it, for a moment, while no one else was looking. 

The woman glanced about her while keeping a firm grip on the metal bars that cuffed the wrists of the smaller woman beside her. A thick black mask covered her eyes, and a thinner strip wove around her mouth, preventing her from speech. It was for the best. One word out of her could upheave the entire mission on its head. Or they could have encountered some sea monster before reaching the shore. Or the entire revival process could blow up in their faces. 

Though, funnily enough, Hildur _needed_ her here. 

The crew awaiting them were scattered about. No one gave the giant pickup ship any attention. Defeat clung to the air, thick and muggy. 

No big welcome had awaited them on this tranquil evening as the sun settled behind the forest. Some sat further away, deeper into the forest. Some were waiting to be seen by trained medic. A woman was injured, had come the reports before communications had gone dead. Another had been infected although, at the time, had not shown any visible signs of the Rash. At the moment only one woman was visible among the crowd. 

“So my dream showed me truth,” Hildur said gruffly to herself. “Guess we better get on with the plan.” 

She made for the forest after giving the handcuffs a tug. The woman hesitated, resisting, before giving in and following. The heavy black mask covering her eyes and mouth did little to mess up her balance, even as feet grazed over unsteady ground, gravel crunching under their feet and then rocks and soil and then the crackling and snapping of twigs. 

Two young men sat silently together in the forest. She instantly recognized her wanderlust brother by his braid. To her strange delight, her dreams had revealed that Reynir’s magical abilities were awakened while on his foolish journey. A mage in the line of Árni Reynisson who did not wish to see magic born again. Her parents hadn’t minded so much that Hildur herself was a mage. She wasn’t of the direct line, coming from a donor egg to ensure immunity, but Reynir was different. He was meant to be sheltered, as her great grandfather had wished. 

And he was out here in the open, vulnerable and far more powerful than he could ever imagine. He sat hunched and occasionally throwing a compassionate glance at the other mage sitting near him. They didn’t speak a word to one another. Hildur could guess the reason. The young man’s eyes, normally grey like overcast skies, marred with red as tears continued to bead at the corners and trickle, unhindered by any sense of pride or being watched by Reynir. 

“I apologize our reunion is not on a more pleasant occasion,” Hildur said as an announcement of her arrival. 

“Hildur?” Reynir gasped, his head shooting up to see them. “I didn’t know you were on the ship!” 

“Thought I would surprise you,” Hildur said sweetly. 

Reynir’s eyes shot to the blindfolded woman beside her, the question nearly bubbling on the tip of his tongue, before going back to Hildur. “Is that what you do? You sail around the Silent World?” 

Grinning, Hildur extended out a hand. The rune appeared on her palm as if an invisible hand inked it, the lines flashing blue as they appeared before Reynir’s eyes. 

“No, not a sailor,” Hildur said. “More exciting than that.” 

The mix of shock and delight was something she would never forget. Now she had something in common with her youngest brother. 

“Why didn’t you ever tell me!” 

“Our parents would have kicked me out. Árni Reynisson’s dying wish was that none of his descendants would be like him. Dreams of the future tormented him even as he sought a life of tranquility away from the dying.” 

“Ah.” Reynir gave a short nod of his head. “I’m beginning to see why he felt that way.” 

Hildur’s lips perked into a quick smile. She settled herself on the grass, tugging on the handcuffs to signal for the other woman to do the same. “So…I heard about your crew. I know what happened to her. Tuuri, was it? I saw her in my dream. I could not save her; I was not meant to. I was only meant to be delivered this vision, you understand?”

Reynir nodded. 

“I’m sorry for your loss.” 

Reynir leaned back as he sat down again. He glanced back at the other mage. “Yeah…we’ve been…devastated.” 

“Is that a relative of hers? There’s a family resemblance.” 

“Um, yes. Her cousin. His name is Lalli.” 

At the mention of his name, Lalli glanced up, shooting a dead, tired glare from Reynir to the two women before sinking back into himself. 

“I tried to do something about it. After Tuuri got infected, I kept thinking how I could help. I remembered a woman I met in a dream. She died a long ago but she used to help the infected and I thought we could…but he refused…I wanted Lalli to help me. He wouldn’t help.” 

“There is another way.” 

“How?” Reynir leaned forward, eyes bearing down at her. “How? She’s dead! We don’t even have a body. We—they, Sigrun and Mikkel, they burned her remains!” 

“A body is not required to bring Tuuri back,” Hildur explained calmly, repeating each line in Finnish. Lalli’s attention shot back at her. “Her old body was infected, and we don’t have a cure for the Rash Disease. We have another means to bring back Tuuri.”

“What?” 

“We’re going to give her a new body.” 

“I… _how?_ ”

“When this world fell into darkness, the mages have discovered…let’s say a special _trait_ unique to the magical blood. We call it the magical moiety, and it was found there were two: Morning magic was found most among the Icelandic mages and Evening magic among the Finns. 

“You belong to your mother’s moiety. In our case, Reynir, you and I are Icelandic, even if it was Árni who had been the only known mage. His daughter—”

“Grandpa Ragnar!” 

Hildur smiled darkly. “Grandpa Ragnar _adopted_ our father from our witch mother. Understand me now? In either case, we are both Morning mages because we are Icelanders. If we had Finnish blood, this would be more of an issue.” She pointed to Lalli and the other woman. “They belong to the Evening moiety. They are Finns.” 

“How is this important?” Lalli asked after she was done translating for him. 

“Because we need a Morning man and a woman to marry an Evening man and a woman,” Hildur answered with a grin. Over a patch of grassless ground she traced the shapes of two Suns and two Moons, then drew a male symbol under one Sun and a female under the other before doing the same for the Moons. 

“This is a very powerful union between four mages,” Hildur continued. “Four sacred and powerful unions which can, if performed right, grant you any wish. We can conquer the world together. We can challenge gods and win. We can bring back the dead.” 

Silence followed for a few, long moments before…

“Wait, I’m going to have to marry _you_?” Reynir exploded. “You’re my sister!” 

“It’s a sacred magical marriage, but by the laws, the only two sexual unions that do not take place are between the Morning man and woman and between the Evening man and woman,” Hildur said. “So, yes, little brother, we will be marrying but there won’t be consummation for us.” 

The woman next to her snickered loudly. Lalli shot her a look, a very uneasy look, his eyes wide, full of dread before casting them back at Hildur. 

“Kade!” 

“Yes, Virva is a kade,” Hildur said. “It was by happy accident that we met while I was on my way here. See? It appears fate is on your cousin’s side. We will get her back.” 

But Lalli only balked. “ _Kade?!_ ” 

“What’s wrong about a kade?” Reynir asked slowly, unsure he wanted to know. He eyed the elaborate blindfolds, the leather strip over her mouth, and the handcuffs. 

“They are extremely powerful and wicked mages,” Hildur said. “But I’ve tamed Virva just fine. Let’s meet her now, shall we? It’s getting dark and we should perform the wedding ceremony.” 

Before any of them could protest, she slipped off the blindfolds with ease, greeting Virva with the most sardonic smiles. 

Long silvery hair swept past Virva’s shoulders and she cast dark green eyes on Lalli and Reynir. Reynir loudly gulped and leaned back, turning redder than his hair, and the expression on his face was extremely easy to read, even for Lalli. His own eyes narrowed at Reynir’s reaction. 

Hildur chuckled. “Careful, Lalli. We need only one kade on this mission.” She glanced over her shoulder, locating the other crew members. “They’re finishing tending to your captain right now. They’ll be going to bed soon, and we should be too.” 

“When will the ship head out?” Reynir asked, trying his best not to stare at Virva too long. Lalli silently fumed. 

“Tomorrow unless the tides are too turbulent, which it will be.” 

“How will you know it’ll be too—”

“Because Virva and I will make it so. We need about a day to get Tuuri back.” 

At the mention of his cousin’s name, Lalli turned his attention back to them. “We’ll need to perform the wedding ritual now.” 

“Now?” Reynir sputtered, aghast. “We’re all getting married, right now? How long will the marriage last? Shouldn’t we first, I dunno, get to know one another?” 

Hildur smirked. “You know me well enough already, little brother.” At that, Reynir went visibly green that Lalli and Virva couldn’t help but snicker at. “Don’t you want to get Tuuri back or no? I can only make this possible in one day.” 

Tears beaded at the corners of Reynir’s eyes as Hildur repeated her statement in Finnish. Lalli leaned forward, rambling away something that Reynir couldn’t catch. 

“I want her back,” Reynir said. “She’s my friend! She shouldn’t have died or gotten infected in the first place!” 

“And Lalli doesn’t care what he has to do to get her back. Perfect, then. Get up, all of you!”

*

The wedding ritual was simple in design, devoid of any romantic inclination, but terribly tense in its magical implications. They formed a circle holding hands as Hildur took them through the chants. The Morning mages were meant to look their opposite Evening mages in the eyes, so Lalli and Reynir stood eye to eye as did Hildur and Virva, the Night and the Day.

 _I’m marrying Reynir_ , Lalli thought in disbelief. _I’m marrying this fool._ The fool he saw running over the water, the mage he yearned in his loneliness. But how could he feel anything now, while his cousin rested under ice? Then the thought that Reynir and Virva were also in this marriage, and Reynir was holding hands with her, and Lalli felt the acid boil in his stomach before a little jolt from the magical stave below his feet averted his attention back to reality. 

_We need only one kade_ , he reminded himself, _and I’m not going to sink as low as she had._

When the ritual was over, everyone took in a breath, as if testing the new bond between them. It didn’t feel like much of a bond, not much different than a normal marriage (whatever ‘normal’ was.) 

Hildur smiled at all of them. “It is now over. They’ve set up tents for us over there. We begin at dawn.”

**

_Morning_

 

Lalli was woken up by gentle prodding on his shoulder. 

“Hey, it’s the sunrise. Our first part of the mission is about to begin.” 

For a moment, he was stunned at being spoken to in Finnish, not recalling anyone in the crew being that proficient, and vaguely hoping the last couple weeks had all been a lie, and that Tuuri was the one speaking. But then remembering the night before, Lalli jolted up from the makeshift bed and slipped on his clothes before being stopped. 

“You won’t need those,” Hildur chuckled. 

Lalli stared at her, confused. 

“What are we going to do?” he asked. 

“Husband,” she said as if that word would mean something. “We have arguably the most important task of this mission. We must create the new vessel that Tuuri will inhabit when she returns.” 

As the full meaning of her words sunk in, Lalli flopped back down on the bed, staring at her in disbelief. 

“Why does it have to be me?” he finally asked. 

“In the Norse tradition a person can be resurrected through birth if their descendent carries the same name as them.” 

“But I’m not…” 

“You are her relative. My child will be of her line because of where the other half is coming from.” 

“I’m just a cousin!” 

“Not quite.” Hildur smiled. “Reynir said Tuuri mentioned something about both of your mothers or fathers being twins or something like that? Whichever way it was, it makes both of you genetically half-siblings. Close enough.” 

Lalli’s jaws fell. “I _can_ bring her back, then. She’ll be my daughter _and_ cousin…half-sibling?”

“Something like that, it’s complex and weird, but she’ll be back.” 

Lalli nodded. 

“I require your seed, Lalli. Stop stalling.” At the look on his face, Hildur stepped forward. “I should remind you that we’re married, Lalli. And this is your duty. I understand your heart may be elsewhere. I can sense it from you; I’m a mage too. I have my own preference, but it is our duty.” 

“Duty.” Lalli sat there, thinking. Of Reynir, his own conflicting feelings, then of Tuuri, so far from him, under ice. Then he stood up and approached her. Placed a hand on her shoulder, another on her cheek. A kiss on the other cheek, chaste and uncertain. She shared very little similarity with Reynir, and that was both a good and bad thing. 

Then he let go of the image of Reynir in his mind. _Think of rescuing Tuuri. Think of her._

He let his hands roam, then a flush spread his face as he brushed over very unfamiliar territory. 

He glanced up, uncertain. 

“Can you guide me?” he asked. “I’ve never done this before.” 

Hildur snorted. “Didn’t think you did.” 

Lalli was glad when it was over. It had been difficult for him until he realized he needed to let go all thought of Tuuri as well and succumb to some primitive mode, letting his body react to any and all stimuli. It wasn’t the most unpleasant, and Hildur wasn’t cruel, but he was glad when it was over. 

Gladder still was when he watched her later perform a few runes over herself before smiling, and he knew it wasn’t all for naught. 

“We did it!” she said happily. “I’ve conceived!

**

_Day_

 

The morning was sunny and promising, or perhaps it was some weird aftereffects of the sex. Lalli sat beside Reynir over a large blanket. Food ladened atop. Sigrun, Mikkel, and Emil had stopped over to check in on them, but the meetings were brief, save for Mikkel who could converse with Reynir in Icelandic. They were ordered not to tell about their mission, as if Lalli could say anything. Reynir, he could observe, seemed to be keeping up charades, however sloppily, even as the sea waves grew uncharacteristically violent in front of them that the sailors were throwing some kind of fit over having to wait until the storm settled. 

After Mikkel left, Reynir gave Lalli the biggest grin over the waves and said something, perhaps about the violent waves as a dumbass sailor who had been trying to weather it just went crashing back on shore. To his relief and disappointment, Hildur translated for Lalli everything that Reynir said, which was finally great in dissolving the language barrier. Not so great because what Reynir said was something so anticlimactically boring Lalli quickly forgot about it. 

Lalli wondered if Reynir had any idea he had just impregnated his sister. He hoped he would never find out, but that seemed to be only a matter if time, if this “creating a vessel” thing was the most important step. 

Hildur had left them for some time and joined up with Virva, leaving them alone. Silence hung over them as thick as fog. Reynir was grinning and mumbling excitedly to himself as he gazed over the food before them. 

“You brought gluten-free bread and crackers!” he said when the two women returned. 

“Of course I would not forget my Celiac brother,” she said and winked at Lalli after translating for him. “I’ve gone into the habit of eating like you recently as well. Just in case I met another like you.” 

Uncertain what this weird disease was, Lalli eyed the bread that gave Reynir so much joy and then suddenly realized: he had never seen him eat any bread or crackers or cookies while on the mission. 

_A chance to poison him, missed_ , he vaguely thought and chuckled to himself. 

Virva gave him a confused look as she settled some jars among the breakfast items. That was what she and Hildur had left to fetch earlier. Deciding not to ask him about it, she instead busied herself with unscrewing the lids. Hildur brought out some cups and began to pour. 

“Some honey and some mead to celebrate our marriage,” Hildur said. 

“Mead in the morning?” Reynir asked. 

“With extra honey, to keep the marriage sweet and our mission blessed,” Hildur said. 

“And to bring back the dead,” Lalli added, remembering the old tales.

Hildur and Virva nodded to him. 

A shiver ran up Lalli’s spine as he accepted the drink from them. 

“Is that how we’re getting her spirit?” he asked. “We’re going to Tuonela?” 

“Yes,” Virva said, and Lalli wished she wasn’t the one who answered. 

_Thanks for cursing the entire mission_ , he silently damned her. She ignored his glare as she poured a drink before handing it to Hildur. 

“A drink for you, my love,” she said in a sweetened tone. “And, my, how lucky you are, to embark on this _long_ journey to motherhood!” 

Lalli tensed as Hildur accepted the drink and took a swig. A gasp escaped her lips and her arm wrapped around her stomach. 

“What have you done?” Lalli hissed, ready to strike her. Even Reynir was leaning forward, his mouth hung open in concern. Hildur held out her hand. 

“I’m fine,” she said first in Finnish then in Icelandic. “Virva has to jinx my pregnancy so that it will speed things up. This is the first part; she’s buttering me up for…later. I will be having the baby in twenty-four hours rather than the anticipated nine months.” 

“Why…” Reynir’s eyes grew wide. “Wait, you’re—” 

“We can’t wait nine months to retrieve Tuuri,” Hildur said. “The longer we wait, the more comfortable she’s going to be resting in Tuonela. Right now she must be walking to her final resting place still. 

“And yes, Reynir, I’m pregnant. Lalli helped me with that earlier this morning.” 

Lalli pretended to look the other way as Reynir’s gaze swung towards him. 

“It was all part of the plan,” Hildur said. “Lalli gets me pregnant, Virva gets my pregnancy into turbo speed, then you and Virva will be opening the portal into death.” 

“And what will Lalli and I do?” 

“You and Lalli will bring back Tuuri,” Hildur said, and Lalli looked back up. “But how remains to be seen.” 

Reynir took a few sips from his drink before speaking. “So we got seed and honey…what will mark the next stage of the mission?” 

Virva smiled. “Blood.” 

Reynir’s face grew white as a sheet. 

Hildur laughed. “It will not be as horrible as you think it will be. Each coupling must engage in intimacy. Blood will come into play for your bit, but it won’t be bad.” 

Reynir nodded and an awkward silence fell over the boys before finally Lalli dared to speak. 

“Where did you find _that_?” he asked, pointing at Virva. 

“You mean my girlfriend?” Hildur asked, smiling. “I met her before we heard of your troubles, although it was _because_ of your adventure that we met.”

*

“I had caught sight of a mage in his animal form one day while scouting around in the dreamworld. I would later come to learn he had just rescued your lot from a hoard of ghosts. Lovely bit of saving you two had tried to do.”

“Lalli was in a coma because he over-exerted himself and I still didn’t know much magic!” 

“Oh? Well, if that’s the case…anyhow, so I was curious where he was headed and why a Finnish mage was so far out here in the Silent World. He returned to the fringes of his own haven and transformed back into his human form, and I was, admittedly, a bit taken aback by his appearance. A bit handsome. Not _the_ most handsome man I had ever seen, but I had considered pursuing him for a bit of fun. Reward him for whatever good deed he had done. Reward myself for…you know, I forgot what I was doing that day. But I came as far as two steps towards his haven when I was ambushed by this lovely little kade. 

“It appeared she too had seen him and had entertained a similar idea as myself. Naturally, we fought over who would have him, but to make a long story short, we ended up finding better release and joy in our own bodies, together.

“I know our parents will find this very odd, Reynir. Not so much my bringing in a woman. You might not remember Lúvísa, but she was my lover. A strange lady, she was. Tried to make off with one of father’s goats for gods know what. Loved her. But anyhow, Virva and I enjoyed ourselves before that mage’s haven without him ever being aware of it, and by the time we left we had mostly forgotten about him. Happy resolution to that conflict!

“But then…Virva wished to abscond with my heart, see, turn this into a one-time affair after sating herself. But then I learned of your plight and I wouldn’t let her leave when I knew I would need another Finnish mage for this mission, preferably a woman, kade or no. It took a lot of my strength to keep her by my side. We became lovers and worked alongside one another. If she slipped into bad habits, I was there to neutralize her magic. As I learned more of your situation, _especially_ when I learned of your cousin’s death, I knew we were meant to meet. I needed Virva. You both need Virva.”

*

Hildur took another sip from her drink. “And now we must make love again to complete the spell. The fetus in me will grow rapidly after.”

As if on cue, Virva cupped Hildur’s cheeks and gave her a lingering kiss before helping her to her feet. They made for the tent, leaving both Lalli and Reynir alone in awkward silence. 

Lalli didn’t wish to comment, even if Reynir couldn’t understand him. Just the way he was staring at the tent with jaws hanging open was…awkward. More so once he caught the moans drifting from there. _In broad daylight_ , Lalli wondered in shock. 

He took a tiny sip of his own glass, noting how sweet and refreshing the drink was, before getting an idea. Finding the lid, he resealed one of the jars tightly and pocketed it.

**

_Evening_

The day ticked on. Hildur’s belly extended notably by the hour, but the four mages were not idle while the sun was still high in the sky. They planned, checked in on the non-mages, ensured the waves kept being turbulent to buy them time. They practiced magic spells and kept themselves from falling into naps. And Reynir especially had much learning to do as Hildur gave him a crash course in some staves he needed for the mission. 

And all this time, Lalli grew more weary as the sun began the descent down the sky. The next magic would take place between Virva and Reynir, and the way the kade was eyeing the Icelandic mage made Lalli sick to his stomach. 

Jealousy was not a word he would ever admit to. Indeed, jealousy was not something Lalli thought he was capable of feeling. He normally didn’t care. He was used to living with so little. And yet…and yet, there was something about Reynir that stole Lalli’s attention and breath the moment he saw him during that one dream. 

And yet he never did anything to get to know him, bridge the gap between them. Dreams provided a solvent to the language barrier, but he never made use for it. Terrified and uncertain of his own feelings, he put up walls and displayed such cruelty in the hopes of driving Reynir away, hoping it would make him hate him. But hate was apparently not in Reynir’s emotional dictionary. 

And then there was Tuuri’s illness. And then the tragedy. 

Had things gone differently, would he have opened up? Or perhaps this weird marriage was what it would take for him to face up to whatever he was feeling. Or punish him for not having stepped in before someone like Virva got to him first. Because the sun was sinking fast into the horizon, and Virva’s smile shone like triumph, ready to claim him, ready to take Reynir out of Lalli’s grip. 

And what was worst, Reynir’s glances at her were that of equal, or perhaps greater, interest. 

Lalli’s stomach lurched with ill ease. 

“Hey.” A hand came over his shoulder, jerking back quickly as the owner remembered his aversion to touch. Hildur appeared beside him. “I see you have the jar of honey with you. Good planning there. It’s going to come in handy. It’ll follow into the dreamworld, you’ll see.” 

Lalli gave a short nod but otherwise didn’t peel his eyes off the scene several feet from them. 

Hildur hummed. “I know what you’re thinking right now. You have to let this happen, okay? They only have to do this once. It’ll help to bring Tuuri back. Whatever happens after is all up to you. Didn’t you say you would do anything to bring her back?” 

Lalli gave a disgruntled “Mrrrr” as he turned, intending to leave. 

Hildur gave a sigh. “If it makes you feel any better, Virva and I were one before the four of us joined in marriage. If you want me to hold her back afterwards, I more than gladly will.” 

Lalli paused and turned back, studying her closely, hesitating if he should shoot off his mouth before it already happened. “Can we just file for divorce after this?” 

Her laughter rang out but it didn’t make him feel any better. “This is a sacred and magical marriage, Lalli! Regular marriage laws don’t apply here!” 

He grudgingly glanced back to where Virva was approaching the blushing Reynir. She pinned him to the nearest tree, pressing their lips together hungrily. So hungry. 

“Come on. While they are busy, we have to make ourselves comfortable and sleep. When we open our eyes we’ll be in the dreamworld, if this all goes to plan.” Hildur laughed. “Unfortunately, I cannot touch you again to help you sleep. We’ve already had that covered once, and I’m not at all too interested in keeping this going after today. I already have a girlfriend, and I think you’re better suited for my little brother.” 

She was trying to make him feel better, and Lalli appreciated it. Really, he did. But not with the knowledge that Virva got to Reynir before he could and there was nothing he could do to stop the damn kade. 

Lalli made a face and turned away. He had seen enough.

*

Reynir had to push Virva back in order to get air back into his screaming lungs.

“What will our combined magic do? I mean, how will it do it?” he asked. From the corner of his eyes he noted Lalli sulking away and frowned, wondering what that was about. He had seen him staring at them earlier and looking rather, well, heartbroken? 

_This is part of the mission_ , Reynir thought, then left a mental note for himself to ask Lalli about it later. After all, the next step was to somehow get to the dreamworld. All of them. 

“What are you looking at, dear one?” Virva asked sweetly, her eyes pinned onto him. He could feel her breasts against him, and, oh gods, he was responding to the curves and shape of her body rapidly, but his mind kept slipping back to Lalli. His eyes next fell on Hildur and embarrassment immediately settled in. As if realizing this, his sister smirked and waved to him as if wishing him good luck; then she turned back, disappearing among the darkening trees. 

Reynir flushed, hoping she hadn’t noticed how much his body was responding. 

Virva moved closer, her fingers working fast on the buttons of his coat, then his tunic. His heart sped as those roaming warm hands touched skin, worming their way under the belt of his pants.

She was quick and feral, hunger burning in her eyes and Reynir soon lost himself completely. It was his first, and he was left dizzy. Yet though dazed and pleasured, a singular thought still flickered in his mind: how were they to all enter the dreamworld at once? 

_And Lalli. How is he right now?_

“Your mind is wandering. I can feel it,” came a cooing voice that sent a cold shiver that had nothing to do with passion. Reynir pressed himself closer against the tree, more for protection than anything else. “What has taken a hold of you? The Noita?” 

“I…”

“Ah, the young are ever so restless.” She continued to pleasure him as she spoke, and he whimpered, feeling something building alongside his own mounting climax. 

Grabbing his hand, she bit onto a finger hard enough to draw blood and then ordered him to do the same to her finger. Then she pressed their wounded tips together. 

“Remember the stave Hildur taught you?” she said. “Or is you mind too foggy?” 

“I…no, I remember it!” Reynir said and crouched down. Virva followed him down, trailing kisses down his naked form. With their mingled blood he drew four Svefnthorn, one for each mage, on the ground. The sleep thorns, they would ensure none of the mages accidentally awoke while they were in the dreamworld. He encapsulated them in a circle, keeping the mages all together, just as his mind turned back to Lalli’s haven. 

Virva smiled fondly at his illustration and quickened her pace, sending him right over the edge. 

And with the gasp came the darkness.

**

_Night_

When Reynir came to, he was staring up at stars, but the trees were not the same. Soon he recognized them as being the ones he had seen before, a long time ago. With a big grin, he shot up into a sitting position, glancing around himself. Virva was lying, strewn across his lap, and Hildur lay on the ground, sleeping not far off. 

“We did it!” he announced. “We got ourselves all in one place! In Lalli’s haven!” 

Hildur awoke and stretched, glancing about herself in mild confusion before shrugging towards him. Then her arms went to her belly. She had grown even larger since the last time Reynir saw her. Virva’s eyes fluttered open and she propped herself on her elbows. “The spell didn’t work! We are no where near Tuonela! We are in a mage’s dream haven!” 

“But surely it means something!” Reynir protested hotly. “We were taken here for a reason! This is Lalli’s haven…where is Lalli?” 

“He was sleeping next to me in the waking world,” Hildur said. “I made sure he was asleep before I joined him. So the spell would work.” 

Reynir got to his feet and glanced around. The trees so familiar that a pang ached in his heart, remembering running down this path the first time, back when he had first glimpsed Lalli sleeping on his raft in the middle of his lake…

“Wait! I think I know where he is!” Reynir said happily. “I’ll find him!” 

He ran off, following the same path he took before, and with a great smile, he was rewarded. Just as the trees parted into a wide clearing, there was the lake, the raft, and thin Lalli curled into a ball, sleeping. 

This time, he awoke at the approaching footsteps and tentatively glanced up. 

“Hey,” Reynir said, suddenly a little shy. He gave a quick wave. “Looks like the spell worked. We all woke up here.” 

“Oh?” Lalli said. “Now what? How do we get Tuuri?” 

“Well…” Reynir coughed, laughing nervously and rubbing the back of his neck. “The next part depends on us, I guess.” 

Lalli’s eyes grew wide for a moment before glancing away. “Oh. I see.” 

He settled himself at the edge of his raft and didn’t say anymore. Unsure, Reynir moved closer, and when Lalli didn’t protest, he seated himself next to him. He glanced up at the sky again. The sun was completely gone by now. Civil twilight had passed during the blackout and now it was purely night, the stars all out with the moon shining in full. 

He didn’t think that much time had passed, but it had. And that meant their moment was soon. And Tuuri depended on them. 

“Virva thinks we messed up somehow,” Reynir said. “But I think we were meant to wake up in your haven, somehow.” 

“Is that what she thinks?” Lalli’s words came out more venomous than Reynir anticipated. He knew Lalli never liked him, but he didn’t seem to like Virva at all, and especially not in terms of her having been intimate with him. And this was the same Lalli who took his own intimacy with Hildur as professionally as he did everything else. This was…odd, to say the least. 

“Um, is there a reason why you’re so…well…”

“I’m not jealous!” 

“I didn’t say that…” Reynir looked away, mouth agape with mingled amusement and shock, before turning back. “Wait, are you?” 

Caught, Lalli visibly deflated before him. “I…I didn’t want her to get to you before I did.” He pulled his legs towards his chest. “I’ve been pushing you away because I hated you for how…hopeful you make me feel.” 

“Really? I make you feel hopeful?” 

Lalli shrugged. “It was stupid to feel that way. But something about you made me feel like everything would be all right. Like I could somehow live a normal life and run over water as carefree as you could.” 

“Ah.” Reynir drew in a sharp intake of breath at the sudden clarity. “I see. Um, well…if it will make you feel any better: Try me, tonight. See if you enjoy this and want to…continue, okay? How does that sound?” 

He hoped the words will encourage Lalli. Suddenly realizing he probably shouldn’t be the one to make the first move, he sat there, hoping Lalli would decide soon. If the spell was to work, if they had a snowflake’s chance in hell in saving Tuuri, it all rested on her own cousin’s shoulders…

Spindly fingers roamed up his arms as lips sought his. 

“I never hated you,” Lalli said quietly. “I saw you long before you came to us in that stupid tune can crate. I didn’t want you to come so soon. I didn’t want to figure out my feelings this early on, but look at what the gods are forcing us to do. I hate you more than ever, but that’s only because my heart’s been breaking. I’ve been pushing you so I could breathe just to make sure I still could without you. And then this marriage…” 

“Lalli…we can work this out aft—” 

The kiss cut him off, coming in desperate and hard. Grief and longing dripped with each passing moment, very different from Virva’s kisses. Perhaps he had noticed just how much time had passed. Three of four steps had passed, and they were so close to coming to finding Tuuri, if only…

Reynir found himself on his back on Lalli’s raft, content to let the other mage take over. His mind wandered to just how little time they had, but the moment Lalli’s naked body pressed against him, another thought took over. 

A memory, flashing before him, of spotting Lalli asleep on his raft. It was as if it happened many years ago. Reynir had certainly felt like a different person. More carefree. More hopeful about the world, despite all its troubles, despite all the monsters that inhabited it. He could not deny the little skip in his heart upon seeing Lalli lying there, the joy in running towards him, the brief moment of awe as he peered to his left, noting the change, the momentarily darkness, as he exited his haven and entered Lalli’s. 

“Ah- _AH!_ ” 

Reynir sat up, gripping hold of Lalli as they both quivered with their climax. Lalli eyed him closely, uncertain if he had somehow offended and was about to slip away when—

“I woke up on the path to Tuuri!” Reynir blurted out, and Lalli paused, eyes widest Reynir had ever seen them go. Somewhere in the distance, Hildur and Virva peered around between some trees. “No, you don’t understand! That day when I came into your haven, when you slapped me with that branch and sent me away, I woke up on a strange boat teetering on the edge of somewhere! I didn’t know what it was! I was just so happy that I could dream, that I could enter dreamworlds like all Icelandic mages could! I didn’t think twice about it or anything!” 

“Then what happened?” Hildur asked. 

“I was chased out by some ill-looking dog,” Reynir said. 

Lalli’s eyes were still wide. “I…you’ve seen that dog. Emil killed it. The next day I prayed for its spirit to find its way to the afterlife…” 

“It must have been in the waters because it was between life and death,” Hildur said. “Reynir, and then where did you go?” 

“And then I found the way to my own haven! Somehow!” Reynir said. “I…I never knew I was on the brink of Tuonela all this time! It was all so new to me, and I forgot most of it because I got distracted! I just remembered it because, well, I remembered seeing Lalli asleep in his haven that day and how, how my heart…come on, I know how we can find Tuuri!” 

He helped Lalli back to his feet. Hildur grabbed for Virva’s arm and pulled her away to give them privacy as they threw their clothes back on. Lalli glanced over Reynir for a moment, biting his lower lip. 

“Your heart…?” 

“Skipped a beat,” Reynir finished and flashed him a small smile before running off. Lalli followed closely behind, and soon Hildur and Virva joined them. Acting as if on superstition, Reynir followed the exact path he had used on that first meeting, taking them down and out of Lalli’s haven, past the couple steps into his own, and through the maze of his green haven. 

Virva scanned around and looked like she wanted to say something before Lalli shot her a threat in Finnish that the dreamworld did not translate for them. Reynir frowned, hoping this wouldn’t somehow jeopardize the rescue mission, but Virva just laughed in a high-pitched tone and kept going. 

At last he spotted the mist and led them through it before Hildur cried out for Reynir to stop. 

“Virva and Lalli will sink into the sea if we try to cross,” Hildur said. 

“But everyone was able to get to my haven safely!” 

“Because the water was very shallow,” Lalli said, suddenly going slightly pink in the face. It took a moment for Reynir to realize the implication of those words. 

_Our havens are connected._

“Oh! Well, then, I’ve dragged Onni down the sea before just by pushing him through it.” 

“No one is shoving me!” 

Reynir grinned. “Then hold hands, maybe? All four of us? Would that be more romantic for you?” 

Lalli spluttered, then shot a look at Virva, then at Hildur. 

“I’ll rather hold hands with Hildur,” he said. 

“Fair enough.” Reynir nodded and took Lalli’s hand as Hildur took the other. Virva took her free hand and they resumed, walking over on the sea with ease. 

“Now, which way did I come from?” Reynir said under his breath. “I was running and so scared…”

“Think,” Hildur said. “Bring back every emotion you had from the moment you woke up to that moment you saw Lalli.” 

Reynir drew in a breath and stirred them in another direction. 

“Here…”

He felt Lalli squeeze his hand as a vessel appeared overhead. A small viking boat rocked gently on the near-still waters. It was still teetering on the edge of the sea, its front halfway sticking into the deep drop below. 

Virva gasped out and Reynir felt a shiver go through his body. 

“So this is it, isn’t it?” he said, laughing lightly. “We’re right on the line between life and death!” 

“Tuuri’s on the other side of that drop,” Lalli said in a quiet voice behind him. 

“Well, yeah!” Reynir said as his voice tightened. “Well, what are we waiting for?” 

“You’ll need to help me get on board,” Hildur said. “The child is beginning to kick. Like she senses the spirit that will inhabit her form.” 

At this Reynir shivered, but after helping Lalli and Virva on deck they helped Hildur last. She settled on a spot where the boat’s motion affected her least. Lalli spotted some oars at the bottom of the boat. 

“No dog,” he commented off-handedly as he got the oars ready. “Its spirit found its way into the afterlife.” 

Reynir tugged on the anchor and secured it into place. As if the water knew of their intension, it grew a little turbulent, but there was still the matter of the heavy ice-rock blocking the way. He gripped and tugged until he felt the boat turn a notch and then — 

Gasping, he fell right into Lalli’s arms as the waves took the boat and drew it down. They dropped at a sharp angle, and Reynir buried his face in Lalli’s shoulder, hoping upon hope they wouldn’t end up being Tuuri’s neighbors in the afterlife (perhaps Lalli and Virva; Reynir and Hildur’s own gods would have to retrieve them, and the thought of upsetting their father and mother like this made him pray this would not end in disaster.) 

The boat rocked violently in its descendent, waves crashing all over. Suddenly it bounced up an inch and then…steady. Looking up, Reynir saw they were all still there, still intact if a bit wet and shaken up, and the boat was sailing forward. 

“Thank the gods,” he wept. 

“We have not pissed them off with our fucking!” Virva laughed only to be immediately hushed by means of Hildur pressing her hands to her mouth. 

“Do not speak so soon, my dear,” she said. 

“How are you doing?” Reynir asked. 

“Baby and mother are both fine,” Hildur reported, “although the dratted thing is kicking worse than before. My back is killing me.” 

“We’ll get there soon. I think,” Reynir said. 

“Soon” became an overoptimistic exaggeration. 

The boat passed through seemingly endless seas, and how long they remained, he couldn’t tell. None could. But the deeper the went, the more anxious he became, sensing how near death they were. Scenery changed seldom, save for a series of tiny rocky islands just visible to the naked eye at one point. None wanted to speculate what, if anything, was contained there. 

They practiced a few spells, hoping their bodies had not yet woken, that the sleep thorns were doing their jobs, and waited until…

“I see light,” Reynir finally said. “It’s faint, but you can just make it out.” 

Hildur struggled to her feet. Virva had to help her up, holding her close and displaying more affection than Reynir had ever seen her show before. 

“We’re here,” she said, and for the first time, everyone noted the dread in Hildur’s voice; cold air fogged over her lips as she spoke those words. “We’re here. We’re reaching the shores of Tuonela.” 

Lalli helped Reynir unload the anchor and he dismounted, glancing out before a sharp gasp brought him back to the boat. Hildur was gripping the ledge of the boat. 

“Reynir, I will need your help,” she said. “I think my water just broke.”

_“What?”_

“The baby is coming! And I know you’ve been helping Pa with lambing for a while. You know how to help in labor!” 

“But sheep and humans are different!” 

“We have a role to play together in this!” Hildur said. “We’re part of the marriage still! We weren’t meant to be intimate, but we still have a role. Please, Reynir, you’re the only one who knows _something_ about the birthing process!” 

Jaws open, Reynir glanced to Lalli and Virva before resigning to his fate. He nodded solemnly. “I’ll help. As best as I can! But, oh gods, I hope I don’t mess up!” 

“I’ll go get Tuuri,” Lalli said, who kept glancing down the road ahead. 

“You’ll need Virva with you,” Hildur said. “Trust me on this.” 

Lalli cringed but then nodded his head, waiting for a moment as the kade reached his side. They gave Reynir and Hildur one last look, wished them good luck, and left.

*

Lalli’s stomach twisted. What exactly would be Virva’s role in this? He wasn’t sure he really wanted to know. Any word that came out of her only meant trouble, and he definitely didn’t want her anywhere near Tuuri.

The pathway was dark, the ground rock and solid with very little in the way of plant life. He sped on before her, hoping he could find some clue as to where Tuuri was. Perhaps, with luck, if Tuuri still hadn’t gone to sleep, than they could just grab her and run…

And that was when he stepped right over her. The warning came as a crack, of ice breaking underneath. Lalli gasped. Glancing down, he hadn’t realized they had just entered the hall of the final resting place for the Finns. It was wide, somber, overcast, grey…no where that he wanted Tuuri to be. Not yet. There was still too much for her to see. So much that she wanted to experience still. 

He leaned closer and felt the wind knocked out of him. Tuuri slept curled into a soft round ball, her eyes shut and mouth giving away none of her thoughts. 

“Hey.” 

Lalli ignored her. 

“Hey,” Virva crouched next to him. “Is that her? I see the family resemblance.” 

Lalli didn’t expect the sight to hit him this heavily that he was almost thankful for the hard shove Virva gave him. He glared at her. 

“The Swan spotted us in the distance. She’s coming.” Virva grinned then turned to the icy grave. Her next words came out as a song, sweet and like honeyed poison to Lalli’s ears. “Oh, how restful do the dead appear! How they are to be envied, without worry or fear!” 

The heel of her boot came smashing against the surface and the ice cracked completely, shattering underneath her. 

“You get your cousin while I deal with the Swan,” Virva said and ran off. Astounded, it took Lalli a moment to recover as the body inside the grave shifted. 

“Tuuri!” Lalli called out. “It’s me, it’s Lalli! Can you hear me!” 

Tuuri’s face slowly turned upwards when suddenly white light filled the entirety of the grave; a moment later a bird not larger than Lalli’s own hand fluttered in front of him. 

“Tuuri!” he begged. “Please, we’ve come to help you! Reynir is here too! His sister and her friend are all here to help you! We found a way to make you immune! You won’t have to suffer any more!” 

Somewhere behind him he could hear Virva laughing as she battled with the Swan. He prayed the kade wouldn’t do anything to damn all of their souls. 

The bird fluttered sadly closer then ascended away as if hesitant. Lalli searched his pocket and pulled out the small jar of honey. Hildur was right; the jar did follow him into the dreamworld. 

Unscrewing the lid, he showed the honey to Tuuri. 

“All you have to do is drink this honey,” he said, hoping his voice would not betray him; his own body was trembling with newfound grief. “You’ll be fine, alive again. We’ll take you back and you can live the rest of your life safely! Hildur found a way to cure you! And I—I miss you! Reynir misses you! _Everyone out there misses you!_ Please, Tuuri!”

*

There was nothing more nerve-wrecking than this, Reynir thought. The minutes seemed to tick by agonizingly slow. Hildur was strong, but this was a whole other level that neither had anticipated. Not only was Reynir going off on knowledge of a species rather different from human anatomy, the thought of losing his sister here, right on the shores of Tuonela on a boat, unnerved him more than he already was.

Nothing was more unnerving than this. But somehow, by some miracle, they both managed, and soon Reynir’s bloodied arms were holding the newborn child. She was neither breathing nor moving, but that fact didn’t seem to bother Hildur one bit. 

She took the child gleefully into her arms, her eyes bright, but not with tears, Reynir noticed, but a madness, a power.

*

Virva swerved left and right, laughing as if the Swan’s threats were mere child’s play, but Lalli was getting close to tears. He could not read what Tuuri was thinking. As a bird she only fluttered this way or that, either close to drinking or flapping her wings away.

“Tuuri, please, come back…”

*

“Hello there!” Hildur cooed to the still-not-breathing infant. “Do I have just the right name for you! A wonderful woman she was, a close relative of my husband’s. You will be named for her, for you and her are one and the same:”

*

Just when it seemed the entire mission was a waste, the bird finally fluttered over to the edge of jar, her tiny feet clasping the rim as she drank from the honey. Lalli’s throat tightened, not daring to say a single word or move.

*

“Tuuri Hotakainen.”

*

The bird suddenly flickered out, extending out her wings and Lalli felt her whoosh past him, disappearing and leaving darkness in her wake. Lalli gasped and nearly dropped the almost-empty jar of honey.

“Tuuri!” he searched the grave, feelings of rage and the tears about to boil before another sound reached his ears. 

An infant’s cry echoed throughout the long halls of the dead that even Virva stopped to listen before dodging the last attack. She grabbed Lalli’s hand and they both ran back to the boat. A million questions whirled inside Lalli’s head by the time they reached Hildur and Reynir, the latter of which was standing to meet them, shaking and bloodied but grinning. 

“I did it! I helped her! The child wasn’t breathing but that was because we had to get Tuuri’s spirit inside, and—and—and Hildur did it! Isn’t that amazing! _I LOVE MAGIC!_ ” 

“Get us out of here, idiot, before the Swan kills us!” Lalli screamed. Without a second to spare, he helped Reynir pull back the anchor and they rowed the boat until they were a good distance away. 

“Tuuri?” he said finally, pushing back the tears that stubbornly kept coming. He settled himself next to Hildur and peered hesitantly into the bundle in her arms. 

Hildur nodded. 

“It’s her, I can feel it,” Hildur said. “The child came to life the moment I said her name! So now both Icelandic and Finnish magic have done their trick. We can go back home, but there is one more thing we must do.” 

She nodded towards Virva. Instantly knowing what she was planning, Lalli’s eyes widened and he shook his head. 

“It’s against our traditions!” he said. “We shouldn’t! Not until the child gets her first teeth!” 

“But Virva is part of our marriage,” Hildur explained, “and I don’t think Tuuri would want to wait out her life before she could have another adventure. By then you’ll be an old crabby man, dear, and you’re quite the crab already.” 

Reynir chuckled at this and earned himself a death glare from Lalli. 

Hildur handed the bundle to him. “It’s your choice. You must trust Virva. Look at how she has helped me to quicken a pregnancy into one day.” 

Lalli held the child—held _Tuuri_ —close. He didn’t want to trust Virva, not when she got to Reynir before he could, not when Reynir was so openly infatuated with her beauty. _Not with trusting a kade alone with an infant._ But without her Hildur would not have been able to have a body ready for Tuuri within a day, and remembering how much Virva helped him at the frozen lake…

Lalli approached Virva even as one side of him, which sounded suspiciously like his grandmother, reproached him. 

“Please, do not harm her,” Lalli said and left Tuuri in her care. He sat next to Reynir, nervous beyond words. Reynir settled a hand over his in comfort. 

Virva smiled down at the child, and Lalli was surprised to find none of the previous look that made her words and curses so dreadful were present. 

“Youth is indeed wasted on the young,” she said. “How I envy thee, but more so I give a blessing, a true blessing: be well in life, Tuuri Hotakainen, and outlive me.” 

She handed Lalli back, who struggled for a moment before mumbling, “Thank you.”

*

The journey back to Reynir’s haven was slow, seemingly forever, and yet the change in Tuuri was remarkable. She was already walking after within three minutes of Virva’s time with her.

By the time they passed the tiny rocky islands, Reynir was braiding Tuuri’s hair into two braids as the child bounced and laughed and asked Lalli for another one of Grandma Ensi’s stories. 

“I kind of like you as a father, actually,” Lalli said, watching Reynir. “You’re good with kids.” 

Reynir laughed. “I’m just good with braids! Wait, do you mean…you would like us to one day…”

Lalli glanced away, shrugging. “Maybe…” 

Reynir leaned close. “Wait, so what are you now to Tuuri? I mean, you’re her cousin but you’re also technically now her father, right?”

Lalli glared at him. “We will never, _ever_ have her know what happened, got that?” 

Cackling, Reynir returned to brushing the other side of Tuuri’s hair. The bundle she had been wrapped in became her makeshift dress, and when she outgrew that, Hildur handed down her coat. 

Hildur and Virva mainly rested next to one another when Tuuri wasn’t asking them a million questions. The birth had exhausted Hildur who vowed to never attempt a magic like this again. 

“Reynir, I hope you do not fall victim like Tuuri did, because I do not think I could do this twice.” 

“We would also need a second Icelandic mage,” Virva added. 

Tuuri as a teen was the worst sight any of them had witnessed. She was so restless she couldn’t wait for the damn boat to reach its destination. To keep her hyper mind abated, Virva and Hildur made to entertain her with magic and stories of their world. 

“And how _did_ I die again?” Tuuri asked. “And how did you think of getting me out?” 

“Here we go,” Lalli mumbled, half-smiling as Hildur began with the fabricated story they had all agreed to when it came to the saving part. Something about mischievous foxes and northern lights needing fixing. Reynir and himself shared a smile. A younger Tuuri would have fallen for this. This Tuuri? Remained to be seen.

*

By the time they reached the shores, Tuuri had grown right back into her full height and age. To stop her from aging further Virva and Hildur had reversed the spell while Tuuri napped earlier on the boat.

Not wanting to have the boat near his haven, Reynir again had them link hands and follow him over the dream-sea and back towards his haven. 

“We don’t need to necessarily go back to Lalli’s haven,” Hildur said. “Just somewhere safe.” 

“Then my haven should be safe!” Reynir said. “Oh, and you haven’t met the sheep and my dog!” 

“I’d love to see that!” Tuuri said happily. “I never knew you could roam inside in the dreamworld. I just sit and have dreams, that’s all! This is so neat! Eeeeeee!” 

Lalli groaned but Reynir caught the smile as well. He brought them to a nice patch of green grass where a herd of sheep were grazing. 

“You are such a farmboy, asshole,” Hildur said affectionately, grinning mischievously as she scanned around. She locked eyes with one gazing sheep and stuck her tongue out at it. 

“They’re so soft!” Tuuri sighed. Virva sneezed and curled into herself. Lalli grinned smugly, that is, until Reynir’s dog came running up, making a beeline right for Lalli. 

“Aww, he adores you, Lalli!” Reynir cooed as Lalli hissed and tried to send off the animal. Tuuri came up to pet the dog just as she had Lalli pinned down, which only made him more miserable. 

They spent some time lounging around. When Tuuri expressed interest in trying to look exactly as she had when she went on the expedition, they went in search for something to help her cut and style her hair back to how it was before. 

“Now I really feel like I’ve never gone anywhere,” Tuuri said. “Getting bitten and dying was just a bad nightmare now!” 

“I’m so happy you’re back with us,” Reynir said, smiling so much his face nearly cracked. He gave Tuuri the biggest hug. “Now, for us to get back to the waking world…”

“Oh! And how will we do that?” Tuuri asked brightly before her smile faltered. “I will wake up, won’t I? I won’t end up down there in the ice again?” 

“You’re alive now, Tuuri,” Hildur said. “You’ll live a normal life. And you’re immune.” 

Tuuri beamed at the news before glancing sadly at Reynir. “I’m sorry you’re not.” 

Reynir waves his hand. “After this I’m going back home. Lambing can be a heart-stopping adventure on its own! But any of you can join me if you’d like!” He gave a quick wink in Lalli’s direction. 

With the sun rising above the green hills, Hildur ordered for them to lie on the grass and close their eyes. Noting the nervous tension return on Tuuri’s face, Lalli took her hand and squeezed it, and Reynir returned the gesture with her other hand. 

The bleating of the sheep and barks of the dog grew dimmer with each passing second.

*

When he opened his eyes, they were all sleeping right beside one another in the forest. Someone was shouting in the distance.

“About fucking time the tides calmed down! I was about to swim my damn way back to Iceland if the seas didn’t calm its tits.” 

Tuuri laughed and translated for all of them. 

“That would be Sigrun, all right,” Lalli said, giving a small smile. He rolled over till he was embracing his cousin tightly, earning him an earful of giggles as she hugged him back. Soon more arms followed as Reynir joined in. Normally the avalanche of noise and touch would have driven him into a shutdown, but Tuuri was _here here here_ and her lungs were filling with air and laughing and her arms were warm and her cheeks soft with a hint of wetness from the tears. 

Eventually they managed to untangle themselves enough to get to their feet, with Hildur and Virva helping them. Tuuri stood, accompanied by four mages in the middle of the morning forest, taking in great gulps of air and looking around herself in awe; they could still hear Sigrun yelling in the distance. Grinning, they regarded one another. 

“Well?” Hildur said. “Let’s give your captain the shock of a lifetime.”

**Author's Note:**

> • [The Sleep Thorns (Svefnthorn)](https://norse-mythology.org/symbols/svefnthorn/)  
>    
> • [The Boat they rode in on, from page 319-320](http://www.sssscomic.com/comic.php?page=319)


End file.
